Figure 4.

The role of IL-12 in sustaining IL-12Rβ2 expression and control of infection in wild-type and IL-12^−/− BALB/c mice after infection with L. major. Groups of wild-type BALB/c or IL-12^−/− mice (n = 6–8 per group) were infected with L. major as described above. In some groups of mice, treatment with rIL-12 (1 μg) i.p. was initiated at the time of infection and was continued for the following 4 days for a total treatment of 5 days. A group of IL-12^−/− mice initially treated with IL-12 for 5 days was given supplemental treatment weekly with rIL-12 (1 μg) i.p. for the next 5 weeks. Weekly footpad swelling measurements were recorded by using a metric caliper.